Heroes of the Shadows
by TwigTalent
Summary: Two young children find themselves trapped in a nightmare as a horned man invades their home in the middle of the night. It all seems hopeless, but all dragons can be slain by those who lurk in the shadows.


Paste your document here...

**Shrieks, cries of horror, and begging shook the room as the cold-hearted shadow crept his way across the floor, his silhouette in the moonlight more demonic than that of a child's most chilling nightmare. He let out a dark chuckle as the two children hid each others faces in their shoulders, the ghostly green eyes coming closer and closer, their hearts beating to a battle drum.**

"Please don't hurt us." The young boy begged as he clutched his crying sister's head to his chest, shedding crystals of his own. "Please, sir, we'll be good, just let us go."

Loki grinned at their fear, their begging and crying was music to his ears.

"What did you do to my mommy?" The little girl shrieked from her hiding as the God came closer to them, kneeling on the dark wooden floors.

He smiled deviously, his golden horns looking silver in the moonlight and casting a shadow of a monster.

"Dear child," Loki whispered, reaching towards them with a pale hand. "Dear bittersweet child, your heart would give out like your elders if I were to tell you what I did to your mother."

His fingers touched her cheek and the boy pulled her away, pushing his quivering sister behind him and balled his fists.

"Don't touch my sister again."

Loki chuckled and grabbed the brave young mortal by what would be his scruff if he were a dog. Squirming in the concrete grasp, the child did his best to fight back, sending his bare feet and tiny fists in the God's direction but just missing the target by the edge of a breath. The scene above her was too horrifying, lightning would ignite the creature's horns into gold and in a flash, the creature would become a man holding her brother. But once the colors were gone, the silhouette of a predator holding its prey above his head return, and the little girl let out a scream and buried her youthful face into the darkness of the corner.

"Let them go, Loki," a voice called from the corner across from the small girl, and lightning glinted off the dark leather.

Little lips quivering, she lifted her head from her knees as thunder shook the house and saw a man in the corner across from her, holding something that she and her brother only saw in the fairy tales that their mother read to them before bed, stories of the thief who fended for the poor.

Dropping the boy from his grasp, the horned man turned to face the man, his smile darkened in familarity. "It has been too long, dear archer."

The child scrambled to join his sister in the corner, holding her close once again as they watched the man face the creature, the arrowhead glinting in the lightning.

"You had no reason to do what you just did to these kids, Loki."

A dark chuckle rolled across the room as Loki stepped closer to the children, smirking as the mortal drew his bow back further. "Perhaps they will become heroes just as you have," he countered. " After all, isn't that all orphans hope for and do?"

Watching from their corner, the kids watched in mixed emotion as something appeared in the horned man's hand, a golden staff that twisted at the end.

"Well someone has to put people like you away," and the shining tip flew towards the creatures heart.

Snapping the staff in front of him, the arrowhead split in two, sending the pieces into the wall as the archer ran out to meet the other head on. The children's eyes widen as they watched the dark archer used his bow like a sword to defend himself, evading attacks with ease. The man that was once a predator proved to be prey just like anything else. As the villain went to swipe at the head with the spear, the man would duck and snap the bow to meet the God's cheek and regain his stance. Driving the end of the weapon towards the archer's leg, the children's hero evaded the attack but soon fell to the ground as the God countered the defense with a blow to the face with his armored arm. The children cried out in fear and protest as they watched the bow scatter across the room.

Green waves sank into the floor as Loki clutched the archer's face and stared into the blue eyes. "A mortal will never defeat a God," he smirked, bringing the twisted edge of his staff closer to the man's temple.

The hero smiled. "But two sure can."

And out of nowhere came a leg that swung forcefully into the God's head, sending him off to the side and crumbling onto the floor.

From the shadows, a woman appeared like she had been there all long, her hair looking as if it was made of fire. Turning to the kids, they saw that she was just like the archer in black when she smiled kindly at them. They were here to help.

"Stay there," her cool voice cooed and the two nodded, huddling closer into the corner.

Back on his feet, the archer drew another arrow and aimed at Loki, who was still on the floor glaring at the two.

"Nat," he called as the God began to glow.

"On it, Clint," she replied and put her hand against her ear. "Thor, now!"

Everyone cringed as the house shook, plaster fell from the ceiling as the sky lit up with lightning outside of the window. Covering their ears, the kids saw fear on their nightmare's face as he looked out the window in a panic but realized all too late that it was a mistake.

The glass shattered, and Nat went in front of the kids to shield them from the shards. Catching a glimpse of the action, the two orphans watched in awe as a hammer flew through the window and hit the villain square in the face, making the helmet ring on impact. After that, all eyes clasped shut in anticipation of the next move. Hearing the wind and thunder settle, the three opened their eyes and felt the floorboards groaned as something settled on them and Nat looked over her shoulder and relaxed.

"It's okay, guys," she whispered. "You're safe now."

Standing up, Nat took the two into each of her arms and they held onto her shoulders, and looked at were the action came from. Standing in the room was a man. No, man wasn't the right word. He was almost as tall as the ceiling with long blonde hair, wore silver amour, and a red cape draped down from his shoulders and neared the floor. There were two Gods in the house, but the kids marveled at the one grasping the stone, leather-bound hammer.

Lying on the floor, Loki groaned and pressed his fingers to his nose and saw that blood on them. He bled just as the mortals did and it frustrated him and he flipped onto his stomach.

"Brother," he sighed painfully as he crawled onto his knees. "It has been...too long since..." Loki put a hand out and got on one knee and stood up."Our...last-"

The air whistled and an arrow struck the exhausted God in a weak spot in his shoulder between his armor and he froze.

"Battle," he finished and fell back onto the floor unconscious.

"Nighty night, freak show," Clint called, lowering his bow and flipped it onto his chest and turned to Nat and the kids while Thor scooped his brother off the floor and broke the shaft of the arrow of and left the head in.

"Here," the archer reached out to Nat. "Pass one over," he asked and took the boy into his arms just as Thor plopped Loki on his shoulder.

"Friends," Thor's voice boomed. "I will return my brother back to his quarters. Get these children to another place of safety and I will see you back at Iron Man's tower."

Clint waved as the God flew through the window. "See ya, buddy. Okay, kids, let's get you two out of here."

Leaving their home was like waking up from a nightmare. The archer and the woman with the hair of fire dropped them off at the hospital and alerted the authorities, ensuring that the kids answered as little questions as possible so that they didn't relive the night. The Avengers kept tabs on them, making sure that the two orphans grew up safe and together

since most of them were orphans themselves.

Each month, Clint and Natasha received letters or drawings or whatever the two kids felt they could do. Even though some nights were filled with nightmares of their parents' murders and the horned man , they never forgot the dark archer, Clint and the woman with the head of fire, Nat.

Heroes of the shadows, waiting to strike.


End file.
